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How effective is boxing for self-defense?

Which martial art is best to learn?

  • Boxing

    Votes: 25 24.8%
  • Judo

    Votes: 5 5.0%
  • Jiu-Jitsu

    Votes: 20 19.8%
  • Karate

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • Kickboxing

    Votes: 6 5.9%
  • Drunken Boxing

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • MMA

    Votes: 21 20.8%
  • Krav Maga

    Votes: 7 6.9%
  • Aikido

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • Capoiera

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • Tae Kwon Do

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Kung Fu

    Votes: 3 3.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 7 6.9%

  • Total voters
    101

GymWolf

Gold Member
You think an MMA fighter is going get though a boxers defense and avoid getting knocked out by a counterpunch? If you really think an MMA fighter has better chance in the ring than a boxer in the octagon. I don't know what to tell you.
A boxer has a chance while he is still on his feet in the octagon an MMA fighter has very little chance in the same situation in a ring.
A boxer defence that is only used to defend against punches but they have no clue about defending against ANY type of kicks or ANY type of grappling, the mma has so many more weapons than a boxer that is not even funny, do you even realize that legs have both more range and power than any punch a boxer can throw? :lollipop_squinting:

Also, boxer are used to defend with big padded gloves, not mma gloves, don't underestimate how much change just because of that, on the other hand, mma fighter are used to defend an enourmous variety of strikes from any angle with these small gloves.

We have literal recent examples of retired mma fighters beating active boxers with decent records in boxe but no example of any boxer beating an mma fighter in an mma match, so at least i have some proof, whay you have is an assumption at best.

Let's just stop here dude, the discussion is going nowhere and i'm kinda tired to discuss such an obvious argument, let's just agree to disagree and peace like before.
 
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We have to draw the line somewhere.
Never in a street fight. Well technically you have to be proportionate when striking someone in the throat i.e they're holding a weapon. Groin kicks filll your boots, it's easily my first or second response for self defense.
 
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GymWolf

Gold Member
Never in a street fight. Well technically you have to be proportionate when striking someone in the throat i.e they're holding weapon. Groin kicks filll your boots, it's easily my first or second response for self defense.
If the dude has a weapon and there is no escape route and you are FORCED to fight, any rules goes out of the window, you aim to do the most damage you can possibly do, survival mode kicks in.

Hope that you are never gonna be in this type of situation.
 
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If the dude has a weapon and there is no escape route and you are FORCED to fight, any rules goes out of the window, you aim to do the most damage you can possibly do, survival mode kicks in.
Exactly! That is why sparring and pressure tests are essential to teach people to remain calm (fight or flight) in an altercation in which you can't de-escalate or run from.
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
Exactly! That is why sparring and pressure tests are essential to teach people to remain calm (fight or flight) in an altercation in which you can't de-escalate or run from.
Tbf, if the dude has a knife and has even a rudimentary ability to use it, you are fucked in 90% of the cases :lollipop_grinning_sweat:
 
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Romulus

Member
Technique aside, explosiveness is the most deadly natural ability to have. It's not the same thing as speed either. People get that confused.
 

StueyDuck

Member
Most martial arts will provide great training, boxing too that with help you gain strength, stamina and technique.

However with regards to self defense that's a tough one, no class is going to prepare you for a back street tussle or a bar fight. It's tough to train that fight or flight mentality. I'd suggest something like boxing or MMA where you can push yourself to do some really entry level novice bouts to at least build up that fight mentality.

Unfortunately going keeyaaah and doing a karate kick on rather drunk, 6ft4 farmer dude isn't going to do anything. It's very much a Hollywood fantasy

Your best defense is as they say a good offense, have the "bigger stick" and get the first hit in if you can.
 
Boxing is ok, but not enough on its own imo, especially if you're barely starting to learn. Learning how to punch and hit pads is one thing, learning to defend, or read/measure distance and how to respond to your opponent is a complex skillset that takes time and practice. I would also practice Muay Thai elbow strikes as they can be unpredictable and devastating if you land them clean. Always keep a disciplined guard. No spinning stuff right away either because you can leave yourself open for counters if you don't execute them right. Mixing grappling training is a must to know how to keep yourself on your feet, control the ground on your terms, or get back up if you get dropped. General strength and conditioning training will help as well to improve your overall gas tank, durability, and power. Good luck!
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
I done full contact kickboxing for many years when I was younger, with lots and lots of sparring and it put me in good staid for a few street fights, it taught me to open up violently with punches and kicks before your assailant knows whats happened, I never did that puff the chest out square off shite, when someone does that, that's your opener to start and end the fight quickly and usually takes the winds out of his mates when they see there friend go down quick, deffo recommend you hit up a club that does lots and lots of sparring at the end of the day it's all about strength/technique/stamina and a bit o luck

Did a few years of Akido after getting into Steven Segall movies back when he wasn't a full on cunt
 
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John Marston

GAF's very own treasure goblin
My vote is pistol training.
I practiced Aikido for 8 years then quit when the cost went to 350$ for 3 months.

At this stage I was teaching beginner classes while my sensei was going back to Japan 2 times a year to refresh knowledge with his own sensei.

It was in the mid 90's and a lot of Steven Seagal fans would show up only to quit early because they couldn't even endure the warm up or didn't have the patience to learn to fall properly for a week.

I did it to keep in shape not expecting to ever use it. And never did.
I really had fun and still keep spiritual teachings to this day.

But yes a gun will save you a lot of time 😆
 

Audiophile

Member
Best defense method is to start grinning with a big crazy smile like you're really happy they started on you then start barking like a dog.
 
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FireFly

Member
I just want to note that UFC champ Nate Diaz was beat down by a youtuber in the ring. 🤣
Nate Diaz was never a champion in the UFC. His striking style mainly relies on wearing fighters down with volume, rather than power or precision. He's also a lightweight, not a middleweight, so was fighting two weight divisions up. Now Jake is fighting at 200lbs and walking around at 230lbs+ he should fight a light heavyweight, rather than constantly picking undersized opponents.
 

JohnnyPhats

Member
I practiced Aikido for 8 years then quit when the cost went to 350$ for 3 months.

At this stage I was teaching beginner classes while my sensei was going back to Japan 2 times a year to refresh knowledge with his own sensei.

It was in the mid 90's and a lot of Steven Seagal fans would show up only to quit early because they couldn't even endure the warm up or didn't have the patience to learn to fall properly for a week.

I did it to keep in shape not expecting to ever use it. And never did.
I really had fun and still keep spiritual teachings to this day.

But yes a gun will save you a lot of time 😆
Look man. I’m in decent shape, but I’m damn near 50 and have some wear and tear. I am not asking to get in a fight and “be a man” if someone is trying to assault me or my family. I didn’t agree to fight for a prize. Fuck em. Two to the torso. Get fucked. Don’t want to get shot, don’t fuck with people
 
I practiced Aikido for 8 years then quit when the cost went to 350$ for 3 months.

At this stage I was teaching beginner classes while my sensei was going back to Japan 2 times a year to refresh knowledge with his own sensei.

It was in the mid 90's and a lot of Steven Seagal fans would show up only to quit early because they couldn't even endure the warm up or didn't have the patience to learn to fall properly for a week.

I did it to keep in shape not expecting to ever use it. And never did.
I really had fun and still keep spiritual teachings to this day.

But yes a gun will save you a lot of time 😆
I was a mime for 8 years and boxing is a very effective way of knocking your opponent off guard.

mime GIF
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I have a few friends who are into MA. One thing their teachers had in common is that they all adviced to hand over your money if the attacker has a knife or syringe in hand.
Funny, that isn't the advice you get from a handgun defense class :p

j/k, even if you are armed, if caught unawares and a guy with a knife is just a few yards away, you are not fast enough to draw and shoot before he cuts you. So yeah, hand over your wallet either way.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
Long story short -- I work in some dangerous areas. 3x in the past 5 years I've been assaulted.
The first two times I came out on top. Last go around, it was a 2 on 1 situation. Jumped from behind with a chokehold. I broke the hold, and kept my belongings, , but ended up with an injury that inevitably required surgery. At age 25, I don't believe I've lost much of a step, but I clearly project as a weaker target due to my skinny-fat body build. I have no formal defense training, and have gotten by with what I picked up over the years in various other fights.

So, I dunno, I'm thinking starting with some basic boxing classes would be a good start. 🤔

Should I enroll in some other sort of martial arts defense training? I think some real training or technique could be of use, at least in a situation where no weapon is present. I'm unable to arm myself when I'm away, the only weapon I have is a tactical flashlight.

Curious if anyone has input.
Jiu Jitsu is the best overall 1-on-1 defensive martial art, I think. As long as you can get in grappling distance you’re at a huge advantage. Boxing is great for fitness and for very short, “fair fight” standing exchanges, but street fights are not fair and many times do not remain standing.

Also - Pepper spray. Not sure where you live, but here even in Communist California we are allowed to carry a small amount of Pepper Spray. Get a good brand with a high concentrations. 2 cans: 1 to practice with, and one to carry. It’s a very low level of force and extremely effective in creating time and space to get the fuck out of the situation, which is all you really need anyway.
 

Dirk Benedict

Gold Member
I want to learn a martial art, myself. So far, my weight gain has been on point. My joints were starting to get really messed up. Imagine holding up a 12 pack of soda and your elbow starts to hurt in a specific place? I was feeling that all over. Restarted my vitamin regimen and lifting 50LB dumbbells. I love the dumbells I have and I like doing all kinds of crazy shit with them. I'm by no means an expert in fitness, but I am an expert with my own body and I pay attention to what it tells me.
Vitamins: K2(soluble), B Complex, Calcium, D3, C, Zinc and Magnesium to start. I don't take the vitamins every day, but every other to two days apart.

Ah, sorry, I don't want to make this about myself, but if anything you see that I posted here, is worth anything to you....
Oh, and Turmeric and Ginger root is awesome.
I think I am going to go through a small batch of Creatine for a bit of a faster result. I've used it before and always did it before a workout, then I'd eat a high protein meal, like chicken breasts or fish.
 
Been say, the best a combo is boxing and wrestling. for just out there street fighting and defending yourself. You have a great stand up game to take on 2-3 or if not more. Then the wrestling game if someone try’s getting hold of you. BJJ is great. But if you got 2-3 trying jump you in a bar or on the street. Boxing lot better and wrestling gonna help for any type of ground game.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
All I know is one time I was in a scrap in grade school and gave someone a bulldog headlock. I didn't know it at the time, but I guess I was also holding a pen or pencil in my grip and was actually accidentally kind of stabbing him somewhere the more pressure I did. Ooops. But it worked like charm. lol

Another great one was, do the Batman and know youre surroundings. In middle school I got in a shoving match and literally grabbed a guy by his jacket collar and threw him down an icy slope on school grounds. It was a pretty decent angle and distance. You never know, i could had broke his neck. But he never bugged me again. lol
 
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Tams

Member
I detest the culture around MMA, but it is the most logical choice. It's about winning a fight and nothing else.

All the other martial arts do have their merits, which MMA takes, but they all have weaknesses and are mostly performative.

Aikido is the fucking worst in terms of performative martial arts. I used to love karate, but no matter the style it is also mostly performative nonsense.

Anyway, the thing with MMA is, well it's mixed martial arts. The chances of finding an MMA coach that can teach the good bits from various martial arts is very slim. You need to become proficient in various martial arts. My advice is join several clubs, but ignore any stuff about grading and competitions with them. No need to frequently go to them and once you've learnt the basics move on from most of them.

Upper body: Boxing (including variants), muay thai, karate.
Lower body: Taekwondo, thai kickboxing, karate.
Grappling and groundwork: Jujitsu, wrestling, judo (the latter only because it's available pretty much everywhere and for cheap - I don't think it's that useful).

If you care about utilising your opponent's force and making them hurt themselves, then also try aikido. Just be aware that most of aikido is bullshit and they try to push that bullshit hard. Learn to flip someone from their own momentum and then quit.

It's still good to have an MMA coach to help bring all the techniques together and to get you some actual fighting practice.

And after all that, you still have a decent chance of ending up in a coma or worse.
 
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simpatico

Member
BJJ or wrestling, but honestly just buy a pistol and take some classes. Anything less can impart a false sense of confidence. All it takes is on fall and an awkward blow to the head on the sidewalk and your life is over.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The thing about being prepared for a street fight is that all the organized fighting leagues are just that. Organized with rules and a ref.

A random bar fight might involve a drunken slob, but all it takes is him being half decently strong, agile and having drunken retard power grabbing a knife off the table slashing and then what?
 

Tams

Member
The thing about being prepared for a street fight is that all the organized fighting leagues are just that. Organized with rules and a ref.

A random bar fight might involve a drunken slob, but all it takes is him being half decently strong, agile and having drunken retard power grabbing a knife off the table slashing and then what?

Grab a chair or stool and pin them against something.

Then leg it.
 

Madflavor

Member
My older brother has been training in MMA for the past few years, and put on a shit ton of muscle. Physically he looks fairly intimidating. I once asked him how he feels about getting into a random fight with someone, after he told me about a story about some guy he got into a brief spat with at a park. He told me he never ever wants to get into a fight with anybody, and that you never know what the other guy knows or what he's capable of doing. Years of training likely won't amount to shit if the guy randomly pulls out a knife or a baton. He's also talked about how he's sparred with people who were much less experienced and smaller, yet were surprisingly tough and resilient on the mat.

Learning self defense obviously helps a lot, I'm not trying to knock it. But staying calm and de-escalating the situation, is the first and usually the more effective method of self defense. Even if the guy's obnoxious, calls you a pussy in front of everybody, and gets in your face. Looking like a pussy only matters in High School, because teenagers are retarded. Outside of High School, the aggressive guy will always look like a fucking loser to everyone else.
 

DosGamer

Member
Lets be honest. Its all really a giant game of Rock Paper Scissors isnt it?
I mean a trained boxer can handle his on against an untrained boxer, but brining in kicks and holds makes it a different story... yet there are other forms that can handle that if you know the discipline.
 
Most practical in real life "on the nose" is definitely Muay Thai // Kickboxing // MMA.
However, outside of a tournament stage ,since you never know if someone doesn`t suddenly draw a knife or a gun or simply has 10 buddies joining the fray, I´d highly recommend to simply run // call for help if at all possible.
 
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TMLT

Member
Its the most effective form of combat to learn for self defense on the street. Just having basic somewhat crisp and mechanically sound punching skills will see you through practically any hand to hand situation you'd encounter.

You dont wanna be kicking or wrestling in street situations, and dont need to 99% of the time if you can box a bit. Those are higher commitment techniques with a higher learning curve. Keep it simple and GTFO fast.
 

dave_d

Member
Most practical in real life "on the nose" is definitely Muay Thai // Kickboxing // MMA.
However, outside of a tournament stage ,since you never know if someone doesn`t suddenly draw a knife or a gun or simply has 10 buddies joining the fray, I´d highly recommend to simply run // call for help if at all possible.
So basically in real life the best forms of self defense are either track or the French martial art of running away, Parkour.



Just wondering if it's true, that they have competitive tag (running away) for people that do that.
 
My vote is pistol training.
Training being the key here

Most people purchase a firearm and are not comfortable with it especially to land the first shot which is usually your most effective

Get to the range, get to the range and then get to a range

And when you can't get to a range buy a dryfire system like Mantis and practice in your house

But I will say any form of open handed skills are better than none
 

dave_d

Member
Training being the key here

Most people purchase a firearm and are not comfortable with it especially to land the first shot which is usually your most effective

Get to the range, get to the range and then get to a range
Some how what gun jesus mentioned in this video seems very appropriate(They couldn't hit the side of a barn from the inside

 
Some how what gun jesus mentioned in this video seems very appropriate(They couldn't hit the side of a barn from the inside


The 1911 is my preferred open carry gun of choice and a Springfield Hellcat Pro for concealed

That said even as someone with thousands and thousands of rounds fired at ranges I only feel comfortable at maybe 20 yards under ideal conditions and can't imagine the stress of real combat trying to steady myself to use a handgun for survival

For anything with range I too would prefer literally any carbine and up close and personal like actually inside my home it will be a bullpup 12 gauge
 
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